The Truth About Jim Moriaty
by Alexandra198
Summary: Moriaty is not quite who he seems and only John knows the truth about Moriaty, John Jim friendship TRF spoilers


John carefully looked around to make sure he wasn't being tailed. He had decided to meet him outside of London so that Mycroft's cameras couldn't find them and so Sherlock had no way of finding out. Anyway Sherlock had a case today and from the sounds and grins it was a tough one. So John had said he was going to visit his parents. Technically it wasn't a lie; his parents were buried in a cemetery nearby. John just hoped Mycroft wouldn't find out that his parents were dead. John supposed he could say he was visiting their graves but though he was good at lying, very good in fact, the Holmes were genius's and could detect a lie with remarkable ease. So a trip to the cemetery later then, just to consolidate his alias. John really hadn't liked his parents when they were alive so why should he when they were dead? John entered the coffee shop. The windows were steamed up so the inhabitants were nearly invisible on looking in. John grinned he always knew the best places to meet up. He looked around wondering if his mate was there yet. John made his way over to the corner booth where a man wanted in several countries and currently supposedly plotting Sherlock's downfall sat. "Hey Jim" John murmured upon reaching the table.

"John!" Came the exclamation and Jim hurriedly stood up and hugged John tightly. Jim was paler than last time John had seen him and looked tired, ill. Jim giggled. "What?" John queried.

"Nothing it's just how many people are out to kill me and how many people would be shocked to find you having coffee with the bad guy, while you are firmly on the side of the angels and considering I did strap you on to a bomb." He replied sounding bitter at the last part. John rubbed his arm comfortingly with a small sad smile and small traces of anger in the deeps of his eyes. "Jim if they knew you were only a puppet they..." He broke off shuddering then continued "Jim you are a good man, one of the best men I have ever known, never forget you weren't the one to order killings or to think up and carry out crimes and you definitely are not to blame for me being strapped to a bomb." John finished with conviction and gentle admonishment for Jim. "You do know it is Sebastian Moran who is to blame- he's the master consulting criminal he just prefers someone else's face to take the blame." Jim sighed. No matter what John always said Jim would forever be guilty at what he had done even if he was threatened to. Sebastian knew their weaknesses. Jim would rather hurt people who were probably bad anyway than ever harm John. Jim knew that he should feel guiltier for the people he killed, well signalled to be killed, but he felt the most guilt for strapping his best friend into a bomb jacket.

"Don't worry Jim soon this will be all over and you can come and live with Sherlock and me. We could hire out 221C as well for your room." Jim smiled sadly they both knew this was a vain thought. There was a very, very slim chance of Jim escaping this alive and neither John nor Jim were gambling men. "John, this, this is my last job, then it will all end." John nodded reading the hidden meaning in my words. His face completely void of emotion except his eyes. They burned, blue from the depths of the ocean burned bright. Jim snorted "you know for all that Sherlock and Mycroft are called genius's they both never realised the genius in front of them, they can be remarkably stupid." John frowned. "What genius right before them? You're not in front of them and who else..." Jim stared then laughed. "Oh you idiot, I meant you. You managed to make them both believe you didn't know me at the pool, most of the time they dismiss your talents as a special force specialist and they believe what you say at face value so they never dug deeper. You never once lied to either of them about anything of importance but you withheld evidence thus pulling the wool over their eyes. You are a wolf in sheep's clothing" Jim paused and looked over John's jumper and jeans ensemble "though it appears you are in fact wearing a whole sheep." He grinned at the last his smile grew as John flushed at the complement then told Jim where to stuff the sheep.

Jim got out his IPod turned the music low and pressed play. The faint sound of Stayin' Alive filled their corner and both men relaxed swaying to the beat. John with sorrow in his eyes he realised that this was their last meeting. Jim with love as he gazed at John, then anguish as he realised what they could have been in another life. Together, without the threat of either of them being killed. It wasn't fair. Why couldn't they be together. Useless anger filled him then drained as the last of the song faded. Jim shuddered, he had one thing to say and though it pained him he needed John to know. "Don't leave him whatever he does next, sure punch him for being an idiot whenever you want, but you need him and he needs you. Promise me whatever happens you will tell him how you feel, I reckon he feels the same way. You both deserve happiness." John looked surprised then touched. Suddenly his face showed anger "you deserve happiness Jim" he spoke in a low voice tinged with danger. I shook my head "Not now." I said I wanted this meeting to be one of joy not discussing what could have been.

Glancing at the clock I stood and pulled John into a hug. Squeezing him with all I would not, could not say. His eyes returned the intensity. We left neither saying goodbye.

**0X0X0**

Mycroft sighed. Attending the funeral had been hard. Not because Sherlock was dead because he wasn't, but there was Doctor Watson. He looked as though his best friend had died, someone he loved like family. It seemed he truly believed Sherlock was gone. I suppose that was good, Sherlock needed to be dead to destroy Moriaty's vast network. I told him to let the good doctor in on the secret but Sherlock didn't want to put him in any danger, Sherlock could be incredibly stubborn, so was I, it was a family trait. I opened the door of my office ready to straighten out Sherlock's affairs and organise passports and whatnot. I stopped and stared. There sitting in my chair at my desk sipping a cup of tea sedately showing none of the anguish of these last few days was Doctor Watson. I managed to recollect myself somewhat by not dropping my jaw. "How did you get in?" Surely there was an acceptable reason he had managed to bypass all the security and end up in my office without being alerted. The Doctor smiled a brief chilling smile and I was reminded that however nice the man seemed he was an ex army man so acclimatised to violence I resisted the urge to shudder. "I had a nice chat with your secretary who then kindly made me tea" though he spoke calmly there was veiled menace in his tone and I deduced it had been a rather chilling "chat" probably with Doctor Watson's customary Browning accompanying. Hmmm that was impressive the man before had managed to dodge most of the security then take down the rest. A sudden thought struck me. "How did you know where I work?" I was not at the Diogenes today and I was sure the Doctor had only seen me work there before. "I guessed" came the nonchalant reply. Once again I was shocked, only three people had ever been able to find one of my work places before and one of them was Sherlock and the other two were specially trained for those sorts of missions.

"Why are you here?" I didn't think he had come to hurt me, he would have done something by now and sitting down at a desk was a hardly threatening pose. Although it was a bit creepy his lack of intimidation and the fact he was so calm. It was a sort of stillness only the very best agents and snipers had but the Doctors was much more acute, it was a stance that said I am the predator you are the prey, you will die when I say so and I can wait as long as is needed. Patience is one of the most deadly weapons man possesses, Mycroft knew this. Impatience cost more lives in the long run and caused mistakes. Whereas with patience you suffered a few losses but the overall outcome saved many more. You could see it in nature. Only the patient predators won, they stalked their prey and waited until the moment was right before charging forward.

The Doctor set his shoulders and his mouth formed a grim line at Mycroft's question. "I want you to clear his name." The Doctor said.

"Well of course I am trying to clear Sherlock's name." I replied surely the man didn't think I would let Sherlock's name remain slandered. Dr. Watson grinned a smug smile. "Oh I don't mean Sherlock's name, that will be cleared in approximately 1 and a half hours according to my source." I stared at him bemused. He laughed. "Wow I managed to surprise Mycroft Holmes." He stated dryly. I stared waiting for answers. "A lot of the people Sherlock helped contacted me via the blog that Sherlock could not be a fake and they offered their stories of him, I told them to send me them. You remember the Baskerville case, well Henry called and said Sherlock saved his life and said he had read my blog and offered to pay the money to set up a website and a few other things like that. He and his new wife are sorting out a few things and have created the website which will be up and running soon. By the time Sherlock returns his name will be cleared." It seemed I had very much underestimated Dr. Watson. I would not in future make the same mistake again. I began mentally making new limits to John Watson's boundaries. Then his words sunk in. "Returns?" I questioned alarm crossing my mind. He stared at me scathingly. I have only seen that look from my brother before and it paled in comparison to the glare the Doctor sent. "Don't play me for an imbecile Mycroft. I know Sherlock is alive." I sank down into the chair opposite one of the most seemingly normal of men I had ever met. Never had I been more wrong footed, or wrong that number of times in one day, even in a year had I not made so many assumptions.

"So whose name do you want cleared?" I added an eyebrow rise trying to exclude the same amount of calm as the man in front of me. "James Moriaty." Once again the man's face clouded with pain.

"Surely once Sherlock's name is cleared people will believe Moriaty was, for want of a better term, the 'bad guy'" The change in the man in front of me was instantaneous. In a smooth controlled move he had his gun out and the safety off aimed at me almost too fast for me to follow. When he spoke his voice held barely controlled anger. "Never, ever insult Jimmy in front of me again, he was a good man." Disdain dripped from every syllable. I feared all these surprises would be detrimental to my health. "Explain." I asked in a clipped voice. Dr. Watson sighed and lowered the gun, when he spoke his voice held quiet anguish but none of the anger he had just displayed. "James Moriaty wasn't quite who you think he was. He was forced into pretending to be the head of the criminal empire by Sebastian Moran, the real leader. Jimmy was my best friend for 6 years before I joined the army at 22. Sebastian Moran was about 7 years older than us and lived nearby us. He took an interest in us, me because I could fight well and hold my own Jimmy because he was an amazing actor and good with computers. Moran already had quite an enterprise but wanted us to help, me to be his body guard Jim to set up a data base for customers that would on first sights look normal but advertise his consulting criminal business. We both said no but he used us as levers against each other. I defied him so much he sent me out of his employ and I signed up. We stayed in contact during my tours. When I returned back to England and we realised that I had moved in with someone Moran was fixating on we decided to pretend not to know each other, protecting everyone we know. Jimmy only stayed with him over the years because Moran kept threatening his sister, Irene Adler. I tried to help but Moran's web was spread too far, I did manage to get rid a few of his ring though. The last time me and Jimmy spoke was a week ago." He paused to take a deep breath. "He didn't notice but I recorded the message." He slid a disk forward along with a file. "That" he said indicating the file with a tilt of his head, "is all I know about Moran's web."

Silence filled the air. He waited for me to break it. My mind was rambling on disjointed completely thrown by this new data. It sounded impossible but I really didn't think the man in front of me was lying. He stood up. "Well thank you for this little chat Mycroft. I do hope your 'source' regarding the information on Moran remains anonymous." A little pause followed. Alarmingly quickly Dr. Watson sprang for the door and grabbed the man hiding behind it obviously listening in. I really wasn't surprised. The doctor let go of Sherlock. Sherlock was staring flabbergasted at his friend. He had heard the entire conversation then. "Come on Sherlock." Dr. Watson called breezing out. Sherlock met my eyes and we both grinned ruefully. Both the Holmes brothers had been outsmarted by a very surprising man. I would have to keep even more of an eye on Doctor John Watson now. I wonder if there was any other secrets he held...


End file.
